do you want to start your own business? there is a local group who could help launch your idea. we will tell you about it. and meet comedian kurt botton in a hilarious one man show. and hear why this summer's big splash at the california academy of scientists is about fish built for speed! i am seuss seuss, this is -- i am susan sikora, this is "bay area focus", next.

. welcome to "bay area focus." i am susan sikora. forget about jobs, jobs, jobs, do you want to be your own boss? utilize what is in your images.

the women's initiative may have been your answer. since 19 # 8 they have helped women with small funds and big ideas start their own businesses and they are still here. for more on how the women's initiative works meet the san francisco director nicole levine. welcome. >> who is eligible to get this help? anybody with a business idea. anybody with a low income can qualify to come into the program. >> when you say low income a lot of people feel like they are lower income than they are. it starts with everything. i went to your we said to see what it is. one person income of $40,000. two persons $45,700 and three persons with $51,400 combined. if you are a woman living in an household with three people, a partner and a child, $51,400 is not a lot, which is not a

lot to live on in the bay area. >> yes. it is hard to believe. >> i have to arrive with an idea, or can i be somebody that has the talent to do a business and i feel that but i am not sure what to do? >> that is a wonderful question. anybody can attend the entrepreneur workshop. if you have a lot of ideas and are not sure, we encourage everybody to come to the introductory workshop. >> it is free? >> yes, free. we have a lot of information about what we do and what the program does and you can assess is this the right time in your life to start a business and you can then narrow down the idea. >> and through the meeting, if i am not the right person to do this you will tell me that? >> sexually, not exact -- actually, not exactly. we will let you self assess. you can come into the larger class with an idea and to be ready for the 22 week very intensive wonderful session that we provide.

>> 22 weeks -- you should be clear, this is not something where you are paid. you have to be able to keep things together financially at home the way you have been up until that point. >> that is exactly right. it is intensive, twice a week for 11 weeks -- 22 sessions. >> and you must qualify before that. >> why. >> because they need to learn how to develop a program, have the confidence and take their self vision into the community. >> have you made an nonentrepreneur into an entrepreneur. can you change somebody? >> absolutely. we definitely provide tools for women to evaluate their ideas,

break even analysis, cash flow productions and we help women understand the reality, so, absolutely. >> they get through program. maybe they have their own idea. can they change their idea. i came in with an idea and through the program i realized i should want do that, i should do this -- shouldn't do that, i should do this. >> yes. we have a lot of examples of that. a come came in wanting to have a jewelry business and decided later on she didn't want to do that and now has a successful book supply business. >> yes. eastbound wants to make jewelry. you don't -- everybody wants to make jewelry. you don't want 50 people coming in every two weeks wanting to make jewelry. >> absolutely. women need to decide on whether it will be feasible for them. >> you get through the program. they graduated, have done the thing, have the idea and are ready to go. when do they get the idea and how much? >> only about 20% of our

clients make money. we teach women how to start small and save and grow your business and doing it in flea markets and farmers markets and grow that way. but for ose that really do need funding, we have loan programs from $500 to $50,000. we partner with incredible banks. first republic bank works with us to fund women. >> and do you meet with the bank first? >> absolutely. we prepare clients, develop an application, it is in a loan committee and then they get to go through the mainstream financial process. >> okay. and that is success rate in terms of repay of the loans. i assume if everybody took the money -- it is not a grant, it is a loan -- if they don't repay the money it is not there for the next people coming up. >> absolutely. incredibly in the last year we have 100% repayment rate.

>> 100%? you are kidding. >> pretty incredible. >> when did the first payments come due. >> one month after they get the loan. >> one month after? okay. here problem, too, nicole. when you start a business they say you better not count on drawing a salary for a year, so, will they have enough money to start paying it or do you make the payments so they are reasonable and comparable to what they are making? >> that is a great question. we have long term loans. we make sure the payments are something they can pay and we ask if they have other small jobs to make the payments in case they can't pay it some of it now. >> we should say the beautiful necklace around your neck was made by one of the people in your program and started a business. >> scorpion sisters takes recycle materials and makes wonderful finds turn into beautiful jewelry. >> that is wonderful. and you give support -- at

least nudge them toward day care and child care? >> we don't do that, actually. we let them come in and evaluate their own ideas. >> there is a fundraiser san francisco on may 13th. i assume this is critical for you to keep going. you can yet that information. 25 years of empowering women will be thursday, may 16th at 5:30 at the hilton san francisco. for tickets and information call 641-3460 or go to women's initiative.org. womensinitiative.org. thank you for being here nicole. >> thank you for having me. >> good ideas. okay. stay with us. much more ahead! ,,,,,,,,,,,,

. welcome back! remember when you went to a bookstore and went to the self help section and couldn't find a book about self help?

neither do i! well, welcome to this one man show about steve siebert, the one man show about that very subject! >> i bet a lot of people here are grabbing the engine but you haven't let out the break. that is the voice in your head saying change is scary! so, which foot should you take off the pedal? i say both. just coast! [ laughing ] you know, if you have an automatic transmission, and i think you do, you will still move forward if you take both feet off the pedal and don't think so hard about it. >> okay. kurt, welcome! >> i feel like i am going to get it because i have a file of these books sitting at home on my bookshelves. okay. why have you taken on the self help industry? they seem so nice. >> so nice! well, there is the inherent

contradiction with self help. on the one hand you have what it takes and it is just a matter of tapping into it, and on the other hand, you must need some help. >> right! >> my show walks the line between being a safe nurturing environment to look inside your heart and also squish you under my thumb a little bit because you have serious work to do, don't you. >> okay. i can't help but ask you if you were not influenced by al franken, now a congressman -- maybe not better -- i don't know. he has the characters start small on "saturday night live", all that stuff. >> there are a lot of people that have sun satires and parodies about self help. my character only says things a speaker really would say. i am not getting all silly and over the top with it. i am playing it very straight and letting you be the judge.

>> okay. and you targeted this so sometimes things are certainly a true word said in jest. are you really critical of this particular industry or is it just pure fun and nobody has done it in a while is this. >> well, i pay tribute to it as well as tweaking it. i have had a couple of personal coaches -- >> you went for the coaches, more money! [ laughing] >> yes. it has done some good for me in my life and help me make change that is are helpful, and over time you hear the same cliches over and over. you feel the manipulation to take more courses and buy more books. we all know there are abuses and manipulations as well. >> i heard something once in a tape i was listening to and they were having a dialogue of this person they were walking through this coaching session. one of the things they said was manifest more money. why would you want more money

and she said so i can buy more books and tapes! [ laughing ] >> that is a great point. well, my show tomorrow has a lot of people saying kurt, that is really funny but you told stories that will really help me, i hope that is okay and i say that is fine. >> the show has been extended by the way. you are in the right area of the country, definitely! >> okay. [ laughing ] >> what gets the biggest laugh in the show? >> i don't want to give away too much. >> give us a little something. >> one bit do i is about procrastination. you should embrace it while it lasts. here is something you don't want to do. you are not doing it. life is good. if you are not doing it and feeling bad about it, you have a problem. >> comedians have to write if you have. i assume you wrote all this from scratch. >> yes. >> what tells you and informs you as a comedian that you think it is funny but will be

audience think it is funny? >> well, i came from a background of a lot of improv and story telling, i have also done corporate training where i teach presentation skills and team building and things like that. >> and you use humor with that? >> yes. and i know how to come in and take command of the crowd which is what my character does. we are here for a weekend long seminar and that is great, we will make change, so it draws on skills i have as a performer and professionally to make this character. >> and you mention the improvisation. but the group in san francisco the one you were with? >> yes, back improv. i was a member and instructor there. >> i think that sharpens you. you have to think on your feet. how would you advise young comedians if they want to go into what you do, i think an impro class would be -- improv

class would be good, but i don't know. >> improvization is good for people in general. people want to learn to perform it to get more relaxed and spontaneous in their lives. it is great because in the show i treat it as a seminar. i am addressing the audience directly. i am talking to people and just that things happen, somebody sneezes or a water bottle knocks over and rolls across the floor. i am able to incorporate those into the show and kind of examine what in this moment make that is a significant moment, a teaching moment here. it is also sort of behind the scenes where the fourth wall is back up so to speak and you kind of see the man behind the curtain. that is an almost too. >> do you have -- element, too. >> do you've to be brave to do comedy. >> well, in improv people think it is scary because you don't know what you will say. then i got into comedy and people say how can you do that,

it is terrifying. i have always loved comedy. they leave the show smiling. >> okay. well, if you would like to see this man on stage and again if you are wanting a laugh, steve siebrooke is paying on may 18th, that would be you, at valencia 22nd street. the information is on your screen... kurt, thank you. >> thank you!

. welcome back. this racing subject, fish, will be at the academy of california sciences, showing us how to be swift in the sea. we welcome the assistant curator louise rokaw, phd. >> that is fine! why this? >> well, it is kind of interesting because the academy is now the educational pattern of oracle u.s.a. and we developed this partnership to talk about fish in con junction about fast boats. >> fast boat, fast fish. okay. why does this matter to me? [ laughing ] >> it is very interesting from

several perspectives. there is a lot of fish that swim much faster than the boats. very few people know about that. evolution guided them in a direction to swim very fast so they have a different motion in their bodies and special kinds of fins and scale that is help them go very fast. >> we are looking at a couple of pictures here. we are not going into an aquarium like we would in monterey and saying the fish swimming around or not? >> right. even though we have an aquarium at the academy, this new exhibit is being designed on top of it. we have models of the fish and we will be talking about the adaptations of those. >> it would be good to do one and then go down and see the other. >> yes. absolutely. we have all kinds of activities going on. >> can swimmers get something from fast fish? >> they can, actually. there are several among the

adaptations that fish have. sharks, for example, have a specialized skin. their skin is covered with very small scales and allow them to move a lot faster through the water. there are some boating company that is mimic that. >> you hear developments like this when they are doing water olympic, people with particular swimsuit, etc. >> yes. so, which fish are the fastest that you are featuring? >> we are featuring not only fish. we are featuring a very fast marine whale, a giant squid, a giant whale and the mako shark, due in a and -- tuna and others. >> when we walk in we will not see fish swimming. is it just picturess, bone,

skeletons and what? >> for the orca exhibit there is a real skeleton or the orca whale that got stranded and died. there is an assembling of the skeleton and everyday you go to the academy it will be in a different stage of protesting of assembly, so you can watch that. and we will have a mako shark. and we will have a little screen showing migration patterns. a lot of them are marked so we with look at the movement to see where they are going and how fast they are moving and how long their migrations are. >> where did you get the fish for this? were they from local waters in general or all over the world? >> all over the world. >> really. what was it like to get the artifacts here, if you will? >> well, the items are models, so they were designed here.

but for the satellite site, the fish are tagged in several places by other researchers, not our own team, and we follow their movements through computer screens. >> and what is this? >> we have a couple of examples of fast fish. >> is this going to be at the exhibit, too? >> not these little guys, but the bigger ones. i brought the little ones because it is hard to bring the big ones here. one of the reasons fish swim fast in the ocean is it is open, there is no where to hide, so the only way to survive is to swim fast. and the predator, thus, also has to swim fast. it is a cycle one to the other. >> okay. >> this is a little mackerel. it has the same adaptations as the bigger fish does to swim

fast. 2019 has a bullet shaped body, very elongated. it opens, clowes and expands. they come very close to the body, so they have a streamlined body and little fins to help them swim fast and a special tail for propulsion. >> and who is this? >> this is a baby tuna. exhibit attract anything in he terms of extinction or how, for instance, you see little fish with the dolphins, tuna, etc.? >> yes. on top of all the fish that will be there, we have three specific areas addressing problems go and on in the ocean. one is trash. >> you hear that. if you get the photo cams, they cut up the plastic things that hold them together. >> they all end up in the

ocean, and they get stuck to their bodies as they grow and they can't remove it anymore so it is very damaging for the fish. also silt bad for the marine birds and seagulls, they pick the plastic off thinking it is fish and end up ingesting them. this is the little tuna. when they are swimming fast they lower their dorsal fins and lower their body. that is one of their adaptations to swim very fast. they have smooth bodies and very small scale to make them cruise through the water. >> okay. as you put that little guy away there, what do you want people to do when they -- take away when they leave the exhibit? >> right. hopefully they will learn about what you should dump in your

water, sewer lines and drains. >> right. it ends up in the bay and ocean. >> yes. and the tuna fish, everybody knows it is popular and tasty. it has been fished everywhere and overfished in a lot of places. you have to do research and find out where the fish can be farmed before you buy it. >> we will let you know you can catch "built for speed" at the academy of sciences may 10th through september 29th in golden gate park. leaving you now with a look at neil byrd's 100 years of broadway delight. i am susan sikora. thank you for watching!

lose in unemployment benefi. . those automatic budget cuts about to hit thousands in california today. just how much money they will lose in unemployment benefits coming up. >> and a good sunday morning to you. we are starting out with a few clouds along the shoreline, otherwise we have sunshine all over the place and that is not going to change, but the temperatures are. we will have the forecast in a few minutes. >> and marking a rare reunion in dallas. our political insiders on the pomp and circumstance of the new presidential library. >> it is 8:30 on sunday, april 28th. thank you for joining us. i am anne makovec. >> and you i am